Box Office Top Ten: 'Non-Stop' and Edited TV Series 'Son of God' Top Oscar Weekend

By
Tom Brueggemann
|
Thompson on HollywoodMarch 2, 2014 at 1:46PM

Two strong new openers --Universal's domestic pick-up "Non-Stop" and "Son of God," a theatrical revamping of cable hit "The Bible"-- led another strong weekend at the box office.﻿ Only one Oscar contender factored in the Top Ten, scoring over $1 billion around the world. But another CG movie is dominating the first quarter.

Still very healthy in its fourth weekend after three at #1, "Lego" is actually $17 million ahead of "Frozen"'s total at the same point in its wide release. This won't equal Disney's smash (this doesn't have major holiday playtime ahead to help it rebound), but it has established itself clearly as the top hit of the first third of 2014.

What comes next: "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" will provide some competition for the younger crowd next week.

Sony
clearly made the right choice to move George Clooney's WWII caper out
of Christmas. Now facing much weaker competition for older audiences,
this keeps holding on better than expected and now looks to easily pass
$80 million domestically before it's through. It actually rose a spot this weekend - pretty impressive.

What comes next:
Most of foreign is yet to come. And Cate Blanchett's Oscar tonight for
previous film "Blue Jasmine" won't hurt at all, particularly overseas.

Though this didn't start off strong, facing "Non-Stop" on its second weekend just made matters worse for Kevin Costner's attempt to replicate "Taken," similar to the new Liam Neeson effort. Beating it into the market was the right move, but it needed to take hold initially better than it did, and this second week result is no surprise.

What comes next: This still has most of the world to open, so there is hope for better results elsewhere.

Not exactly gangbusters here, this remake looks with overseas possibly to top $250 million before it's through worldwide, good enough to likely get into the black despite its lesser domestic interest. International is already up to $136 million.

What comes next: China opened this weekend, and potentially solid Japan comes later.

This Sony-distributed (in the U.S.) but not financed film was always going to have its biggest appeal overseas, but its domestic take still started weak and now is falling fast. This will outgross Lionsgate's earlier "Legend of Hercules." But this is not a genre that seems to be taking hold.

Not holding at all well, the rom-com is outpacing its fellow Valentine's Day 80s romantic remake "Endless Love." With a production cost of only $12 million, this has been a decent showing (marketing cost more) despite its lack of international potential.

What comes next: Nothing to discourage Sony from continuing to mine its library for low-budget updating.